Netflix
Ryan Murphy is on a Netflix hot streak. He basically broke the internet (and Netflix’s streaming numbers) with his questionable take on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Now, hot on the heels of Dahmer, he’s back with another true crime offering: The Watcher. This show is based on a real-life unsolved case involving a family in Westfield, NJ, who kept receiving creepy letters from someone known as The Watcher and ended up never moving into the new home they’d bought.
This premise alone would’ve been enough to make a compelling TV show: a drama that explores the trauma of being consumed by something that ends up ruining your life, yet never has a satisfying conclusion. But if there’s one thing Ryan Murphy is known for, it is his flair for the dramatics. And so, The Watcher is riddled with unnecessarily campy and bizarre moments that turn a show that is genuinely compelling into something utterly ridiculous.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Watcher.)